Old Colours, New Endings
by Killjou
Summary: Bumblebee never thought adjusting to Decepticon life would be so crazy. Well, he never thought he'd be adjusting to Decepticon life period, much less one as Megatron's treasured bond-mate. Go figure. Sequel to Yellow Sun, Grey Sky.


Well.

It took me long enough.

I had always intended to write a sequel, as early on I had fleshed out the whole thing and knew where it was gonna end. And lo and behold, I have finally gotten the time to post it.

Hope you all enjoy it, after my period of recluse (crazy years, they were… whoo.) I sure am excited to continue on with this!

THAT SAID, I am also embarking on a month long trip in the next few days, so unless you would all like the second chapter immediately, it shall be a while before I can continue posting.

That's all for now you lovely peoples. Love you all, enjoy and bon voyage~! ^^

…

With an almighty battle cry, Bumblebee launched himself at Sunstreaker, banishing his stingers threateningly.

And with an equal amount of effort, Sunstreaker sidestepped the young bot and slapped his aft mockingly, sending the smaller one spiralling to the floor. Bumblebee gave an indignant cry of anger as Sunstreaker snorted and made a show of dusting his servos. Sideswipe and the odd assortment of Decepticons crowded around them on the training hall burst into loud and rambunctious laughter.

Bumblebee's faceplate burned, and he threw himself back up. 'I wasn't ready then!' he yipped loudly, stung at Sunstreaker's cool grin as the golden warrior started chastising him. 'I keep telling you Bee, you've _got_ to find _openings_ and _then_ charge head on! And be _ferocious_ , primus!'

'Easy for you to say,' Bumblebee muttered angrily, but he nonetheless readied himself for another attack. The Decepticons paying attention quieted down (mostly). 'C'mon, Bee! Give that slag-pumper the PIT!' Rumble called loudly, pumping his fists.

'Yeah!' Frenzy was quick to add. 'Don't hold back!'

Sunny rolled his optics (without removing them from Bumblebee, of course) as he and Bee circled each other. Sideswipe thwacked Rumble on the helm fondly, whispering 'Shush, mini-me's! It's go time! And Thundercharge here owes me a sweet can of oil if Sunny kicks tailpipe again…' he trailed off with a grin while Rumble pulled a face. Nearby, stretched out on the floor, Ravage yawned.

Bumblebee charged, slower this time. He kept a keen eye on Sunstreaker, and thus leapt back when the older bot swiped first. This time he kept his distance, dancing around the larger bot as they both swiped half-heartedly, awaiting the upper hand.

Bumblebee smirked, and suddenly darted forward. Sunstreaker waited for him, but before he could grab the little yellow bot, Bumblebee reared back and allowed himself to hit the floor, skidding between Sunny's legs. He popped up behind him as Sunstreaker himself dropped to the ground, dodging Bumblebee's blow.

Bumblebee lost his balance and fell forward. Sunstreaker rolled out of the way in time for Bumblebee to hit the ground next to him. Sunny started to roll up, already grinning triumphantly, before a sharp pain assaulted his arm plating. He jerked back along the ground in shock.

'Are- holy frag- _are you biting me?!_ ' His tone reached surprisingly shrill levels as he jerked around, trying to paw Bumblebee off. Sideswipe collapsed to the floor, positively howling.

' _Getoffgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoffgetoff!_ ' Sunstreaker screeched, flailing backwards. Bumblebee refused to let go, and wrapped his arms around Sunstreaker's forearm. The Cassettes pranced around them, whooping with joy.

Sunstreaker was attempting to bang Bumblebee against the ground when Bee suddenly let go and jumped on top of him, scissoring his stingers to each side of Sunstreaker's neck cables. He was venting hard as Sunstreaker froze and gaped at him. ' _No way, you little pipsqueak_ …' the golden twin spluttered.

The Cassettes went wild. 'Viiiiiictory!' They dragged Bee off Sunstreaker and paraded him around, collapsing under his weight after a few short steps, but managing to do it with style. Sunstreaker gaped a bit more as a laughing Sideswipe tried to pull him up, before shooting up himself and shaking his helm. 'No,' he told Sideswipe uselessly as his twin grabbed his engine and wheezed happily. 'Oh, fragging _NO!_ ' Sunstreaker yelled.

Bee grinned at him from the ground, still atop his Cassette cronies. 'What can I say?' he purred out. 'I'm just that awesome!'

Sunstreaker shook with suppressed annoyance.

'Ha, …ha, ha… man, …that was great,' Thundercharge bellowed nearby in his slow way. 'You… owe me now, …Sideswipe… I told you the Little Lord was… _feisty_.'

Sideswipe stopped laughing immediately. 'Slag, Bee! Why did you beat my homicidal brother! Now I gotta pay this guy!'

'Well, sorrrr-eee,' Bee snapped, pushing Rumble back down when he tried to escape (Frenzy was gently released, though). 'Wasn't the whole point of this for me to get better at winning?'

'At **fighting** , not _winning_ ,' Sunstreaker fumed. 'Bee, do you really think you'll be able to survive fighting like that on a battlefield? Winning don't count for slag if you can't defend yourself properly! You might as well entrust your own safety to luck!'

Bumblebee scowled and stood, marching to stand pede to pede with the towering golden mech. 'It's worked so far,' he growled. 'Helps when you have a supreme Decepticon Leader as a personal bodyguard.'

'But he won't always be around, and you know it. I could have easily offlined you many times in that fight! Bumblebee…' Like an cooling engine, the steam billowed from Sunstreaker and disappeared. He sighed. Sideswipe placed a servo on Sunstreaker's shoulder and pinned Bumblebee with an even stare. 'He's right, Bee. Someday you'll find yourself without backup. You need to take these lessons seriously.'

'But I _was!_ I still beat you, did't I?'

The twins shared a look while the Cassettes nodded in agreement. Sideswipe shook his helm before smiling ruefully. 'Maybe we need all need energy. Time for lunch?'

Bumblebee sniffed, still at odds with his apparent mistreatment, but nodded. It was as they were heading out, through the organised rows of sparring bots in the room that Bumblebee noticed one particular mech in the far corner. He was small for a Deception, and the first Bee had seen that had a similar mould to him. Suddenly captivated, he stopped short and watched. Frenzy hit him full on in the back and Rumble followed after, each with their own shouts of dismay.

'Oi, short and useless! What was that?' Rumble grumbled as he shoved Frenzy away.

Ignoring one of the ongoing slights about his height, Bumblebee pointed to the black and white mech, locked in an intense fight with a far larger con. 'Who's that?'

Sideswipe appeared over his helm, peering conspicuously in the direction of Bumblebee's digit. 'Barricade. Nasty little bugger. Owes me a pint. Don't gamble with him,' and he nodded wisely, quite sure he had give Bumblebee the best piece of advice the little mech would ever hear.

Sunstreaker snorted. 'He's a crazy little slagger. Don't look at him.'

Sideswipe nodded. 'That, too, is great advice,' he said with a crooked grin.

Ignorant to both of them, Bumblebee watched Barricade with avid curiosity. This Barricade Decepticon, while _far_ older, shared his protoform mould. He looked different from Bumblebee, sporting various scars, decepticon colours and bulky weapons. But that wasn't what interested Bumblebee; Barricade moved like he knew his body, and was comfortable with it. There he was, less than half the size of his opponent over there and giving the great brute a hell of a time, almost effortlessly.

As he observed, the larger mech Barricade was fighting swung wide. Barricade leapt up to meet him, landing on the mech's arm and running gracefully up to the mech's helm. He moved so fast the mech nearly had any time to withdraw his arm before Barricade grabbed his helm in both servos and twisted it, forcing the mech's body to twist and drop. There they settled, Barricade holding a tight grip on the mech's helm with his legs, a gun aimed at the mech's spark. From afar Bee could see the cocky smirk that slipped onto Barricade's face and felt his jaw hinge drop.

Rumble's did too. 'Sweet moves,' he whistled, while Frenzy shook his helm.

 _Wow._

'Crazy little swagger,' Sideswipe repeated, awed despite himself, as he herded the small group toward the door.

…..

The Wreak Room had certainly become livelier since Bumblebee had started frequenting it. Dubbed as such by Bumblebee himself due to the scrappy interior and even scrappier residents, the name surprisingly caught on quite comfortably. That was probably because if there was ever a room to live up to such a name, this room would be it.

Quite large, it consisted of a sprawling mess of dented tables and chairs, scraped energon dispensers and rowdy Decepticons. Strange marks covered it floor to ceiling, and various jagged lines stood out on the walls like proud battle scars, some of them trailing into the large booths that were dug into the walls. Due to it's place towards the back of the ship, there was a lovely view of the Nemesis II's back burners and trail of comic exhaust. Even so, the Deceptions were more or less happy in this room, the energon always flowed, and there were always entertaining brawls to watch (and join).

Bumblebee hardly had a problem traversing the Nemsis II these days, and was starting to get quite comfortable in it's once hostile embrace. As such, he and his cohort flounced into the room, joining Blitzwing without any major dramas.

'HOW DEED EET GO!?' Bliztwing shouted as Bee jumped onto a stool next to him and snatched the Decepticon officer's half-empty cube. _Swish_. 'Did you kick appropriate undercarriage?' he asked coolly, making a weak effort to retrieve the cube. He was foiled, as Frenzy pushed into the space between them and tried to squeeze onto the stool with Bumblebee. Bumblebee grinned into the cube, drinking deeply, and shuffled over.

'He beat Sunny!' Sideswipe gleefully informed Blitzwing as he leapt onto a seat, juggling a few cubes. 'It wasn't pretty, but he - _technically_ \- did it!' Sunstreaker scowled and smacked his brother, causing the red twin to topple over. Sideswipe launched himself outwards and managed to save the cubes before he went down.

'He still did it,' Rumble snickered, punching Sunstreaker on the arm. Sunstreaker turned his fiery glare on the small Cassette, which only had Rumble smirking.

Random was pleased. 'My littlee Bumblebee, finally becoming a mech, wah-ha-ha-ha-ha!' He made to hug Bumblebee, but Frenzy got in the way, so he simply grabbed them both and squeezed, cackling happily.

At the massive arched doorwway, Barricade entered. Bumblebee's laughter abruptly stopped. All his senses immediately zoned in on the mech, observing as he grabbed a cube and made his way to an empty table in the corner, shoving a few larger mechs on his way. There were a few short tussles, but it was not long before he was seated, alone, sipping moodily.

Frenzy yelled something right near his audio receptor, but and his inputs couldn't take it in. For he was thinking, and a idea appeared. A simple one, but as soon as it occurred to Bumblebee, it was like it should have been this way all his life.

'-umblebee? Oh oh, guys! He's got that look on his face!' Frenzy trilled.

'Eh? Look?' Bumblebee asked distractedly. 'What _look?'_

His optics never left Barricade. Frenzy grinned as his servos waved around to accent his excited pitch; 'That look means you're actually- you ready for this? It means you're actually _thinking!_ '

Bumblebee turned an unimpressed gaze on the cheeky Cassette, while Rumble and Sideswipe simultaneously reacted over dramatically. Sideswipe went as to far to swoon and catch himself with a squawk of 'Bee! Thinking! What is this ship coming too?!' as Rumble snorted energon through his olfactory tubes.

Bumblebee took a moment to glare at them all, before turning his attention back across the room. Yep, he had decided. In true Bumblebee fashion, once had had decided, nothing would short of a rock creature on energy overloads would stop him.

He rose, fully intent, and headed off, pausing indignantly when Sunstreaker grabbed his arm. Before Bumblebee could even yank free, Blitzwing was tugging Sunny's servo off with a mad grin, eyes alit. 'Let im, oh, let im! Eeets alvays so funny ven ee does ziz stuff!' before Icy appeared, 'And ve've got eez back.'

Sunstreaker sat back with a disgruntled frown as Bumblebee continued, shoving his way through. He could feel all the mechs at their table watching him, and more pairs joined. It wasn't long before most of the Decepticons were watching with interest. After a few astroseconds, the room around him slowed and they started to part for him.

After a few cycles Bee had become a common sight among the ships inhabitants, trailing at Blitzwing's or Megatron's heels, or with the twins. He was never alone, but that was a mere reminder of what would happen to any Con that even touched him. Megatron had made that quite clear with a very public execution of Dragbeam and Shockspark. And after witnessing Bumblebee verbally beat Megatron into tactical retreats on more than a few occasions, the general level of respect for him had risen a touch. The few Decepticons that were the more loyal or polite of the bunch had taken to calling him 'Little Lord,' which was mockingly picked up by the majority of them. Bumblebee openly hated the nickname.

Decepticon stilled, drinks ceased flowing and bets were already made as Bumblebee pushed and ducked through the sea of Decepticons, his clear target the nasty little Decepticon in the shadows.

Even Megatron felt it. Like the annoying slaggier he was, his deep yet now soothing voice echoed within Bee's spark exactly when he didn't need it.

 _I can feel you panicking, you know._

 _Slag off. I'm gonna do this!_

 _Whatever it is, NO._

 _Blitzwing, the twins, the other twins are wiiithhh with me,_ Bee sung smugly. _Nothing's happening here, big guy. So see ya tonight, bye!_

He cut Megatron out, delighting when his bonded decided not to pursue him (even though his miffed vibe could still be felt). _Score me! Finally, some trust!_ It was then he noticed the silent audience; the entire wreak room. He held his helm high as he cleared the last few meganometres (secretly soaking up the thick attention from the room) and plopped himself obnoxiously down at the table next to Barricade (fully charged on attention-drenaline).

Barricade went very, very still. He could have offlined then and there for all anyone knew. A few nanokilks passed, in which Bee pretended he hadn't just rudely shoved himself into a violate Decepticon's personal space. It was harder to ignore the harsh chill, but Bumblebee was well practised at this. He started whistling, as happily as he could. There was movement as Barricade slowly turned his helm to stare hard at Bumblebee, whom could practically hear the threatening cr _eeeee-aaaa_ k of Barricade's neck joint.

Bumblebee returned Barricade's stare innocently. Barricade's intense stare didn't recede, as if he was slowly thinking through the many delightful ways in which he could offline Bumblebee right now. Bumblebee tried to look like that didn't bother him at all.

He opened his vocal ejectors.

'I ain't conversing with no slaggin' Autobot,' Barricade snarled, turning away.

Bumblebee frowned, then adopted an 'Oh, so-it's-gonna-be-like-THAT' expression. Blitzwing internally winced at that, recalling a few choice times that look was employed on Megatron. 'Weellllll, isn't that odd?' Bumblebee mused causally, watching Barricade sideways. 'Because I'm not the only Autobot at this table…'

Barricade snorted. 'What's that supposed to mean, ya little slimebucket?'

'You see, my fine bot, I've noticed you have the same basic protoform mould as me. Ancient, yes. Uglier, yes. But still the same.' Barricade growled, but Bumblebee was quick to intercept. 'Stay with me, stay with me here, old bot! Now, since I have the same protoform as you, I know that it is a certain kind of protoform only created from the end of the Golden Age… in AUTOBOT cities. ...So! why'd you _defect?_ '

Barricade slammed his drink down and turned his slanted red optics on Bumblebee. 'Now THAT ain't none of your business!' Somewhere during that sentence his vocals had leapt up a few octaves and he had jumped violently to his pedes. Bumblebee mirrored him, grinning. 'No, it's not!' the smaller Autobot agreed loudly, almost gleefully. 'So teach me!'

Barricade recoiled back like Bumblebee had thrown a vile of cosmic rust at his inferface equipment. 'What? _Teach?_ Me, _TEACH YOU_ , Megatron's Auto-wrench?! Hehe… you must be _joking_.' He laughed, harsh and dry, static building within it as it became louder and rougher. 'What the frag could I even teach you?!' he howled cruelly. 'How to suck tailpipe?!'

Bumblebee waited patiently, until Barricade's chuckles died low enough for him to speak. 'To fight,' Bumblebee said simply. 'Everyone here's trying to teach me, but they have no clue what it's like to be small! I watched you, and… that other guy **!' -** (somewhere in the crowd, Runamuck was sincerely hurt)- 'You kicked serious _aft!_ Show me how to do that!'

Barricade stared at Bee for a few moments, his jaw hinge working. He finally sat back down, abet stiffly, and grabbed his drink. Bumblebee once again mirrored him. 'Well?' Bee demanded, quite excitedly.

'You're serious. Completely.. _SERIOUS_ ,' said Barricade flatly. He lifted his engergon cube, stared hard at it for a few kilks, then took a long draught. '… _Serious_ ,' the rough Decepticon stated again, an almost thoughtful lilt to his tone.

Bumblebee forced his programming back, remaining impressively silent as he waited. He was unable to stop his automatic fidgeting, twitching and gentle revving. His optics, however, remained firmly planted on Barricade.

At last, when he could take it no longer, he slapped both his servos, palm-down, hard and heavy, upon the bench. 'Well? Well? Well? Well?' he demanded eagerly.

Barricade's optics refocused and flitted to Bumblebee. He regarded the young Autobot with a hard look, helm tilting slowly and metal-brows slanted. The room hushed. Bumblebee, accustomed to such Decepticon over-dramatics, raised his own metal-brows and stared back, equally unimpressed. With no indication, Barricade's facade split. The change was impressive; his shoulder guards relaxed, his stuts eased and a large appeasing grin broke out on his faceplate.

'FINE,' Barricade answered lowly, leaning towards Bumblebee smugly. 'BUT-' he shot out harshly, intercepting Bumblebee's brilliant smile, '-ONLY if you BEAT me.'

'Beat you?' Bumblebee echoed, the smile back in full force. 'No problem! You're on!' He leapt onto his stabilisers.

Barricade followed him, quite unable to stop himself reacting. 'Like you think it's going to be that EASY!' he snarled, his cheap cheer forgotten.

'As long as I've got a chance!' Bumblebee shot back, still grinning. He grabbed Barricade's armour and started dragging him towards the door. Barricade's shock lasted for less than a nonoklik, then he wrenched free and started making his way eagerly for the door, quite swept up in Bumblebee's enthusiasm. 'I'm going to shine the floor with your internal waxfulid,' he shot to the spirited mech keeping pace with him.

'It's you who is going down, old mech! I'm gonna—' Bumblebee quipped easily back, happier to be on familiar grounds. The two of them hardly noticed the steady stream of Decepticons that arose after them and followed, Bee's crew at the helm of the excited charge. Beginnings of a fight chant were already starting to take place, and as the two minbot's pace quickened, so did the blood stampede. For the Decepticons had long since learned that where Bumblebee went, mayhem followed. Huge, hilarious and entertaining spectacles that mostly included their favourite commanders.

They were making quick ground, almost to the training hall, when they rounded the corner and hit an unexpected blockade.

There stood Shockwave. He started at the sudden appearance of the two fired up bots as they swept past him, then took in the following crowd with an air of annoyed disbelief. 'May I advise against whatever this is?' He stiffly said, striding widely to keep pace with them.

'No, you may _not_ ,' Bumblebee snapped, refusing to glance at the towering bot next to him. 'Frag off!'

'Then if I may, I shall not allow it,' his voice was tinged with a tight smugness as he swung around in front of them to block their way. Barricade and Bee skidded to a stop in front of his immovable bulk, and behind them the mass of Decepticons came to awkward, rushed, bunched up and curse-ladden stops.

'What gives, Fragwave?!' Bumblebee snarled. 'Who died and make you leader!? Sides, **he** already said I could!'

Shockwave laughed, cold and dry. 'I seriously doubt that, you pain-in-the-spark. Rest assured he shall _thank_ me from once again stopping his _pet_ from it's own stupidity and self-annihilation.'

A chorus of hushed _Ooooooooh_ 's sounded from behind.

Bumblebee bristled, puffing up like an enraged Vultron. 'Oh yeah!? Megatron would-'

'As a matter of fact, I do not agree to it,' Megatron's commanding voice sounded not within Bee's spark, but within the hallway and the most of the ship. Sniggering from the techies on the bridge could be heard as static in the background, and the mass of Decepticons around Bee fell silent, except for a few muted coughs.

'Yeah, well, you're not here and I don't care,' Bumblebee shouted back to the ceiling. 'I'm just going to beat this guy here to settle a bet.'

'How very heroic of you…' Megaton's sarcastic drawl had even more of the Decepticons behind Bee snickering. Bumblebee bristled openly. 'Can you just call off Slagwave already? He's blocking our grooves!'

'I don't see why I should comply.'

Megaron's vocals were thick with mostly unrecognisable amusement, and while the Decepticons saw it as now more than Megatron exerting his authority, Bumblebee recognised it for what it really was; fraggin annoying teasing.

 _Stop being so annoying!_ he internally shouted in frustration.

There was a pause. Within his spark, Megatron stirred with a spiritual smirk. _I wouldn't tease you as such if you didn't get so steamed up about it. It always makes me want to TAKE you…_

Bumblebee straightened with a shiver, doing his best to retain what little self control he had. It wasn't easy when Megatron's sensual chuckles sounded within their bond. To the rest of the ship his perfectly controlled, most bored sounded voice stated, 'Very well. You are free to gain a beating from Petty Officer Barricade.' Bumblebee envied how Megatron could appear so strict and deadpan when he was feeling nothing of the sort. He had to hand it to his bonded; his emotional control was _phenomenal_.

'Oh, one more thing, my communications expert is requesting permission to speak…'

Soundwave's dry voice took over. 'Order; Rumble and Frenzy. Exit the scene. Goal; not get involved.'

'Sorry dad! Too late!' Rumble called out. 'Come down here! This fight's gonna be the plasma-bomb!'

A moment of silence.

'Request; Frenzy. Harm your spark-twin.'

Frenzy smacked Rumble on the helm. He then waved at the ceiling. 'Done, dad!'

Shockwave emitted an surprised burst of static as Barricade suddenly barrelled past him with a loaded shove, Bumblebee prancing closely behind. 'You-!' he snarled, arching his claws, only to be stopped by Megatron.

'It is alright, Shockwave. Any damage Bumblebee suffers is his own grievance to bear, and he shall receive no special attention, _nor pity_ , for it,' this was aimed directly at Bumblebee, who whirled in a fruitless gesture to poke his denta out at the ceiling.

 _I saw that…_ this time it was an amused rumble, and Bee couldn't help but grin as he zipped after Barricade and into the training hall.

They marched ceremoniously to the centre and stood facing each other, Bumblebee's excited demeanour opposed by Barricade's sour disposition. The mechs already occupying the room paused at the spectacle of two minibots and their small following crowd, which squeezed itself excitedly through the doors, excited cheers and bets already bouncing about.

Bumblebee stopped and faced Barricade, grinning. He smacked his servo into an open palm, moreso for the tough look than any necessary battle preparation. Baricade saw right through this and sneered. He started to circle slowly, and Bee, not wanting to look out of the loop, mirrored him.

Bumblebee was now willing to admit he might be a tad out of his depth here. But he had gotten himself into this situation, and he was damn well going to scratch his way through if he had too. Because if he didn't, he would never hear the end of it from _Megatron_ , of all mechs. And that was something he simply could not accept.

Bumblebee opened his mouth to start the pre-battle trash talk, but was stopped cold as Barricade's form blurred.

' _Ohslag_ ,' slipped from Bee's vocals an intake before Barricade's fisted servo collided with his midsection. Kliks later, he skidded across the floor on his aft, and Barricade leapt for him again. Seeing nothing but Barricade's aggressive form heading straight for him, he shrieked and rolled swiftly to his pedes, just managing to dodge the black and white aggressor.

That didn't bother Barricade, as he simply skidded and whirled, catching Bumblebee in the side with his pede. The crowd ' _oooh'd_ ' as Bee went for another impromptu flight. He admirably landed on his stabilisers, albeit quite shakily, and steadied himself, narrowing his optics at Barricade. The two stared off for a moment, before Bee's heel tires squealed and he zoomed towards Barricade.

Barricade ran forward to meet him. They met on even grounds. Bumblebee feigned, going to duck under Barricade's rather sloppy punch, only to have Barricade reveal his own feint, pulling back and fisting Bumblebee right in his faceplate with a crunch of gyros. Bumblebee managed to arch his body and kick out on the way down, catching Barricade in the side. It was harmless, but Bee felt a small thrill of victory, which was squashed immediately as Barricade grabbed his pede, and yanked him up; right into Barricade's iron clad kuck-bolts. Bumblebee's vision momentarily rebooted itself as he finally hit the ground. Dazed, with a stalling processor, he slowly started to push himself back up. Around him, the Decepticons thundered him on. The call for energon was up.

Barricade sneered, walking calmly around the downed yellow Autobot. 'Evasion, deception, agility, _SPEED_. Critical tools for bots such as US,' he intoned with no small amount of snark. 'Where are YOURS?' He stopped, towering over Bumblebee, and leant forward, optics aggressively lit.

Bumblebee grimaced. 'Right here!' he shrieked as he dived recklessly at Barricade, quite lost in frustrated shame. Barricade neatly shunted to the side, leaving Bumblebee to hit the ground and roll. He came up smoothly as Barricade turned and smirked nastily at him.

Feeling his fans working overtime, Bumblebee kept his scowl in place, but forced his systems to slow, his coding to process properly. Barricade was expecting him to keep blundering, he knew, and he was hard-pressed to keep himself from trying to rush in again. As Barrciade had happily reminded him with each startling blow, he was not some large fool Bee could easily use his natural reflexes against; this was a bot who knew how to use his agility, and he was _good_ at it.

 _Alrighty then_ … Bee ground his denta, tensing visibly. _Unexpected. Yeah. I can do that. Unexpected is my base coding!_

His engine huffing with effort, Bumblebee dashed in and feinted sideways, thrashing his entire weight forwards, and delivering a devastating helmbutt to Barricade's nasal ridge. Hardly pausing, Bumblebee brought his servo up to shove Barricade backwards. Barricade lost his stabilisers when Bumblebee used his remaining inertia to throw himself on Barricade, riding him like a surfboard to the ground.

The audience fell silent as Bumblebee stood defiantly atop Barricade's chassis. Barricade's optics made not effort to hide their surprised glow as they met Bumblebee's, and something passed between them; recognition, and a small shelving of something that could one day be respect. _Victory for mmeeeee~ ohslag._

Barricade pushed himself sideways, grabbed Bee's pede and flipped himself up, cracking Bumblebee like an electro-whip as he did so, and sending the young yellow mech brutally to the ground. Bumblebee let out a burst of pained static. He felt more than recorded Barricade standing above him. Forcing his systems to skip their reboot modes, he forced himself up once more.

Barricade waited for him this time, and when Bumblebee ran forward, he was there to meet him, blow for blow. Bumblebee scuttled sideways and leapt. Barricade followed after, going to grab Bumblebee's smaller pede again, but was unable to when Bumblebee transformed. His increased mass landed heavily on Barricade's helm. As he went down with a squealing joints and a sharp yell, Bee was already transforming back, grabbing Barricade's shoulder pads and whirling himself around the Decepticon's falling body to snap his stingers out and hold them tightly to Barricade's neck cables.

He intended to land with Barricade trapped, but it wasn't to last. Barricade's small but sturdy hands gripped his tightly and ripped them off. In a show of strength, he heaved Bumblebee's body over his shoulder. Bee landed, catching a glimpse of Barrciade as he fell; a new neon light now shone in Barricade's optics. Barricade backed off this time as Bumblebee struggled up, taking more time.

Once again, they stared at each other. Everything quieted, and Bumblebee waited. His vents heaved, his armour crackled uncomfortably against his systems, and his faceplate ached at various points; there were possibly cracks. He didn't move though, circuits tight and body poised. The tension eased and broke like a dud grenade popping when Barricade straightened and barked out a rough laugh. Hacking a glob of unprocessed energon up, he spat it at the ground and grinned dryly at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee found himself unable to repeat the same courtesy. 'That is both creepy and _gross_ ,' he curtly told the older bot.

'I'm done for now,' Barricade offhandedly said, looking to the side with disinterest, and Bumblebee found himself slight betrayed by the nonchalant treatment, as if they had not just traded energon, chinks and insults in their messy dance. 'Yeah, sure. I'll teach you a few tricks. Meet me here on the morrow.'

With that, Barricade swung away, pushing his way roughly through the crowd of stunned and cheering mechs. Sensing the end, they fell silent and dispersed quickly, back to pounding each other, their duties or energon. Bumblebee's crew ran up to him. Bumblebee took it all in slowly for a few kilks as he watched Barricade's small form disappear amongst the scarred Decepticon forms, and then it suddenly hit him like a seeker.

He grinned widely. 'Oh yeah! Check me out, kicking Decepticon skid plate!' He cheered, turning as the Cassettes tackled him; their way of showing how proud they were. His cheer quickly turned to a shriek of pain as they coddled him roughly.

Sideswipe whistled. 'Gonna need somebody to pound out a few of those dents, kiddo.'

'WHO CARE-AHZ?!' Blitzwing demanded. 'My little Bumblebee iz a vinner~!' he snatched the retreating Bumblebee up and twirled him around in the air.

'No he's not!' Rumble said with a shriek as he pounced on the two and banged Blitzwing's cranium. 'He just didn't _lose_.'

Frenzy crowded around Blitzwing's legs, trying to scramble up them as effortlessly as his bother. When he managed to, Rumble shoved him back down. Bee started laughing, scrabbling at Blitzwing's fingers. 'Lemme down, lemme down!' he shouted, managing to twist his body and disentangle himself from the older Decepticon. He grabbed Frenzy and started his own little dance with him, leaving Rumble shouting at them from above.

'This is gonna be good for him,' Sideswipe said with a grin as he watched Rumble pounce on the two, Blitzwing soon following. Bumblebee's shreiks of pain returned.

Sunstreaker gave a short half-smile. 'Yeah… but there will be no dealing with him now.'

…..

When Bumblebee entered, he enjoyed an encasing transmission of warmth straight from Megatron's spark. Smiling dreamily at the gentle feelings, he practically skipped toward his bonded, whom was seated at his spacious desk. Megatron spared him a small smile, returning to one of the screens quick enough, but Bumblebee could feel Megatron's pleased aura practically leaking from the seams of his armour.

'What's got you in such a good mood? Get to boss around the whole army or what? Decapitate some traitors? Torture Lugnut?'

Megatron snorted softly and quietly. 'Would that I could. If only he wasn't so useful as a witless solider.' He swiped his fingers effortlessly across the screen and typed rapidly for a few moments, sending it off in an (almost) cheerful manner. 'No, it simply seems that for once everything is running smoothly.'

Bumblebee stopped behind Megatron's chair and started clambering his way up. He couldn't perch himself on one of Megatron's shoulders like his used to (he was still a growing adolescent), so he threw an arm over each of Megatron's shoulder pads, pushing his faceplate fondly against Megatrons, and remained happily dangling there like a baby Predacon, simply drinking in Megatron's rarely happy disposition.

'That's good,' he mumbled.

'Even better,' Megatron told him genially in his "fake happy" voice, the one he always used when he was mocking Bumblebee especially (which had Bumblebee naturally bristling), 'you shall no longer be a useless chuck of inferior metal on _my_ ship.'

Bumblebee waited, unimpressed, as Megatron chuckled, seemingly at his own clever wit. 'You know, you think you're cool, but you're actually not. It's sad,' he told the uncool Decepticon Lord sadly. Megatron merely flicked a claw at an innocent looking datapad. Scripted on it's frontal display was Bumblebee's name and a code, along with the usual boring military jargon. Bumblebee stared at it blackly for a few moments, before shrugging and resting his metal cheek back against Megaton's.

Megatron chuckled again (although this one sounded suspiciously like a snigger, which was sad, because the Decepticon Lord did not snigger) and reached up, grasping Bumblebee and tugging him efficiently too his front. Bumblebee stretched languidly in Megatron's lap and smiled ruefully at him, beckoning his bonded down and not stopping until Megatron lifted him for a sincere kiss. Megatron went to pull away and it was Bumblebee whom clamped eager servos upon Megatron's helmet and twisted happily, delving his glossa right into Megatron. Megatron's metal-brows disappeared under his helmet brow as Bumblebee's dents clamped over his own glossa.

It wasn't long before Megatron responded easily to the challenge, delving forward and grabbing Bumblebee. They twisted into each other in a gentle dance of servos and glossa, their sparks and engines purring as one. It was a few moments before he suddenly pulled back, much to Bumblebee's mewled dismay.

'You devious little Autobot,' Megatron said. 'You almost made me forget the your inscription.'

Bumblebee smiled. Megatron was so close he couldn't see it, but just as well as Bumblebee could sense his moods, he could Bumblebee's and their sparks were both wide open. 'I don't like official stuff,' Bee simply replied.

'You had better get used to it,' finally pulling back, Megatron flashed him a smug look, swiped the data-pad off the table and deposited it within Bumblebee's completely unenthusiastic servos, where he stared at it like Megatron had just broke a canister of putrid slime and rubbed it in his faceplate. 'What is it?' Bumblebee asked slowly.

'Why don't you find out?' Megatron replied, going back to his screens. Bumblebee waited a few moments, but Megatron threw no more clues his way, so he sighed extremely loudly and grudgingly activated it. He sighed again as he started scanning it's contents with annoyance, which quickly morphed into mixed annoyance and confusion, and a tiny bit of interest.

'A _schedule?_ And _pass codes_? I have a Decepticon file? Wha….?' He continued down the data, taking in his new schedule, passwords and Decepticon codes with surprise. He finally looked up back at Megaton, expression growing into excited disbelief. 'Why?'

Megatron took in the range of emotions filtering through to him from Bumblebee fondly. 'It is time you start making yourself useful around here. Also, you have much to learn if you are to continue as my sparkmate.'

Bumblebee frowned at that, snuggling dramatically into Megatron's chassis. 'You never said I would have to work,' he grumbled. Megatron merely chuckled, so Bumblebee huffed and continued reading. Every day was separated into different shifts, which were renewed each deca-cyle. Bumblebee noticed each shift had a distinct job, and an accompanying botsitter. Slightly disgruntled by that, he told Megatron so.

' _Minders_ …' Megatron dourly corrected. 'And teachers. I'll not have you upsetting my strict protocol. Nor doing anything stupid. Hence, the use of the word _minder_. But you are correct. Botsitter is a far more suitable word. Congratulations.'

Bumblebee's engine revved a rude sound Megatron's way. 'Is it just me or have you started becoming more and more sarcastic? I don't like it…' Even so, Bumblebee scanned the schedule, carefully this time, refusing to let his excitement show. He was getting duties! Actual responsibilities! It made him feel… important. Needed. Valued. Moreso than he had ever felt as an Autobot, really, under appreciated and over looked no matter how hard he tried. Best not let it get to bucket-head's head though…

'Blitzwing, cool! Sunny, eh. Why not Sideswipe…. Soundwave, Barricade- …Barricade?'

'Blitzwing has corresponded with him following your earlier stint today. As mindless as it was, uses have come out of it. He shall train you every solar cycle in the ways of combat and deception.' Bumblebee blinked, returning to the list. 'Cool. So, Barricade, …Shockwave. Shockwave. Oh.' He shot up. ' _Shockwave_? Command?! _Training_!? Command training?! Are you kidding me?!'

Megatron nodded, opening his lip-plates to release sound from his vocal-box, but was overshot by Bumblebee's annoyed whine of, 'Noooooooooooo-'

'Bumblebee…'

'-ooooooooo-

'Bumblebee.'

'-ooooooooooooooo-'

 _Bumblebee._

'-noooooooooooooooooooo-'

Megatron started scowling. When Bumblebee saw this, he leant up, still drawing out the one word, and pulled Megatron into a delicate kiss. Megatron took charge this time, his mood taking a complete 360, grinding against Bumblebee and tilting his helm to delve his glossa deep against Bumblebe's, their lips dancing around each other tightly. When they separated, a sting of oil followed and snapped.

Bee grinned. 'Noooooooooooooooooo-'

'Oh for the love of _primus_.'


End file.
